IMHO "True Blood" (2.10): New World in my View

If last week's episode of HBO's True Blood was the best of the season, then this week's episode was ... well ... certainly the most over-the-top outing. While some of it didn't work, there was enough to tilt the arrow upward.

Look below to see the top ten reasons why this episode earned another recommendation.

10.: Who knew Maxine Foytenberry would be such a hoot? A cackling, horny vision in pink, she looks like a black-eyed Hostess Sno Ball (and she has mad Wii skillz).

9.: Maxine to Jason: "Why don't you offer yourself up to me, Jason Stackhouse ... you dirty ... little ... monkey."

8.: Speaking of Jason, he gets to have his Bruce Campbell moment as he "prepares for war" against the monsters in town ... with a chainsaw and nail gun.

7.: Throwaway moment of the night - When Hoyt mentions that Daphne was working at Merlotte's, Jason's ears (and I'm sure another part of his anatomy) perk up and he says hopefully There's a new waitress at Merlotte's?

6.: Jason's rescue of Sam is inspired. He starts by announcing "I have come ... and now I am here", and stands on a car, shirtless, wearing rubber gloves, a gas mask, and waving road flares in his hand. Sounds like the next Bruce La Bruce film.

5.: Lafayette and Lettie Mae are still holding Tara, but as he says "This has got to be the worst mother**cking intervention in history". Luckily, Sookie and Bill are there to help, and with her telepathy and his glamouring, they're able to free her from Maryann's hold.

4.: Speaking of Sookie, Bill, and Maryann, they had the best scene of the episode, as Bill and Sookie return home to find Gran's house in ruins. Bill puts the bite on Maryann, only to come away poisoned from her black blood. Then she and Sookie have a face-to-face catfight ending with Sookie pushing her hand in Maryann's face. Sookie's hand starts to glow ala Bruce LeRoy in The Last Dragon, and zaps Maryann away. Sho-Nuff!

3.: Another hot Sookie/Eric dream sequence. Unfortunately, it's the last we see of Eric this episode.

2.: Sam in a butcher's apron. Only a butcher's apron.

1.: The meat sacrificial monument. It kept getting bigger and more over-the-top, and the only way it could have been better would've been for Nicolas Cage to be dragged out screaming about "The Bees!".

Okay, so I had a hard time coming up with ten this week. After the high of last week, anything would be a letdown, but there were some questions I had about this episode ...

Why didn't Sam just shapeshift earlier? It would have saved a lot of time and trouble.

It's still sketchy as to why Maryann can control some people but not others.

Is Bill incapable of using contractions? He's starting to remind me of Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

And most importantly ... what the hell happened to the rest of the episode? forty-five minutes? What's up with that?

What do you think? I gave this an up arrow, but do you think I was still too harsh, or not harsh enough?